Complaint Review: Greyhound

I bought a ticket to Houston Texas, leaving Edmonton Alberta. I had three pieces of luggage with me. When I got to the border, I found that none of them were ever put on the bus. One of them later turned up- but the other two have apparently dematerialized and no longer exist.

Greyhound employees along the way told me that they have probably been sent to Houston anyway, so I should check for them there when I arrive- which is exactly what I did.

These are the words I heard from the rudest person in the world, who also happened to be in charge of baggage at the Houston terminal-

"YOU GOT YOUR CLAIM CHECK? YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANYTHING WITHOUT A CLAIM CHECK!!!!"

-a very interesting question. Greyhound Canada does not use a claim check system for traveler's luggage, whereas Greyhound in the US does.

So naturally, I did not get my luggage at this point. I was advised to file a tracer, which I did. Then I heard nothing for a few weeks. Then I got the Better Business Bureau involved.

The problem, as I saw it, was that the luggage was probably still in Canada, and filing a report in the US will do nothing to locate it. They will simply look in US warehouses, not see a listing, and move on. I was advised to file a tracer in Canada as well, which the BBB helped me do. The forms had me detail exactly what was lost, and place a dollar value on it all.

After about a month, I finally got a reply from Greyhound Canada. Guess what? They claim that they can't find the luggage, AND that they're not liable for it. So why did I have to come up with a dollar figure for the lost luggage?

The BBB bowed out at this point. They said that there were two active claims, so there was nothing left for them to do. I was told that I should sue them, so I did.

Greyhound then told me that they are not liable for any more than $100 unless a higher value is determined at the start. Anyway, they do not want to settle out-of-court- yes, that's right, a multi-million dollar corporation doesn't want to settle what must to them be a very minor complaint, one that would set them back $2000 at the most. Apparently, they also don't care about any negative publicity that they might get from this- which is why I have no problem telling my story, in detail, right here at the ripoff report.

My luggage is not missing. I am certain that it is sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Canada, and Greyhound's employees don't care enough to look for it. It is unlikely that an outsider took it, i.e. a passenger from another trip, for certainly such a person would have noticed by now that they have the wrong luggage and would have returned it. It is hard for me to believe that two of three bags could disappear, while the third one was just left to sit there on the loading dock (It turned that that particular bag had an old tag on it from the previous trip to Edmonton, so it looked as though it had just arrived there). The most likely scenario is that Greyhound stole it because it wasn't labeled good enough for them (though they had a name and phone number attached to them, and nobody ever called), and they are just waiting for an opportunity to sell it to one of those dealers that deals in unclaimed luggage. They also claim that they eventually cut off locks and look inside unclaimed luggage to try and determine who it belongs to- they shouldn't have any trouble determining that in my case, since both a passport and a birth certificate are inside.

If you are traveling on a Greyhound bus, take the advise of the jackass I met here in Houston- you are responsible for your own bags. Yes, that's right, even though you pay the carrier to take care of it for you, it's still your responsibility. Make sure that you put it in the cargo hold yourself, and make sure that it is still there during every stop you make along the way. If it is to be transferred to another bus, do it yourself- and just be glad that you wouldn't have to do this if you were traveling by plane. Greyhound Canada doesn't care about your luggage; if you need any proof of this, look no further than the fact that they do not use a claim check system.

And if it isn't labeled JUST SO, then baggage handlers will pick up on this right away, regardless if there's a phone number attached to it, and they will send it off to a Greyhound unclaimed luggage warehouse to wait for the day they can sell it- and they're not liable.

Greyhound Canada is run by thieves.

DEATH TO GREYHOUND.

Mark
Deer Park, Texas
U.S.A.